Automatic filing cabinet



Aug. 14, 1956 Filed April 17, 1953 Fig. l

F. E. COLE, JR 2,758,901

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AUTOMATIC FILING CABINET Filed April 17, 1953 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 g 1 j I38STATOR WINDING r\ u-nu'v J WINDING w CIRCUIT SLIDE WIRE INVENTOR.'maaajh Y United States Patent C 2,758,901 AUTOMATIC FILING CABINETFrank E. Cole, Jr., Manchester by the Sea, Mass, assignor to CraigMachine, Inc., Danvers, Mass., a corporation of MassachusettsApplication April 17, 1953, Serial No. 349,369 "3 Claims. (Cl. 312-223)This invention relates ticularly to filing cabinets having amultiplicity of drawers together with apparatus for bringing a givendrawer to a predetermined convenient position for use.

In a number of uses for filing cabinets, data is contained in aplurality of drawers and an operator is required to go from one drawerto another recording and correlating facts. With conventional filingcabinets, such an operation requires frequent shifts to inconvenientpositions from which it is difiicult to locate the appropriate file andin which recording data is impractical. In some types of card catalogs,individual drawers may be pulled entirely out of the cabinet and placedon sliding shelves in position for convenient use, but such systems arelittle better, and the drawers can become misplaced. Other systems haveincluded cumbersome turntables and other moving elements which havenever been generally accepted because they took up too much room andwere generally inconvenient in operation.

Among the objects of my invention is the provision of an automaticfiling cabinet in which a multiplicity of drawers may be brought to aconvenient operating level by simple operation of a control mechanism.

A further object of my invention is to provide such a filing cabinetwith mechanism for insuring prompt and accurate positioning of thedrawers together with safety mechanism to protect the hands of theoperator as well as to prevent the drawers from inadvertently shiftingposition. In the accomplishment of these and other objects of mymvention,'l employ in a preferred embodiment thereof a vertical cabinet.Inside the cabinet I provide two sets of vertically arranged drawerseach mounted in a carrier which is in turn mounted for vertical slidingmotion within the cabinet. The carriers are suspended by chains whichpass over suitably mounted sprockets in the top of the cabinet. Thus thecarriers counterbalance each other, and when the carrier on theleft-hand side is at the top of the cabinet, the carrier at theright-hand side is at the bottom. Two drawer openings are provided inthe front wall of the cabinet, one for each set of drawers and bothbeing located at a convenient working height. By moving the carriers upand down Within the cabinet, a selected drawer in each carrier may bepositioned adjacent to the drawer openings, from which position they maybe drawn out through the opening.

It is a feature of my invention that the drawer carriers are moved tothe correct position to expose a given drawer by an electric motor whichoperates in response to a control system.

It is a further feature of my invention that the motor employed toposition the carriers is immediately braked when the control systemindicates that a selected pair of drawers is in operative position,there being practically no over-travel in the system once the pair ofdrawers is properly positioned.

It is a further feature of my invention that the upper and lower edgesof the drawer openings in the front of the to filing cabinets and morepar- "drawer at a time when the cabinet are provided with guard bars,and that these guard bars, when touched, are adapted to operate switchesto break circuits to the carrier driving motor. Thus, if the controlsare inadvertently re-positioned to call for a new operators hand is inthe opening adjacent to the drawer or when a drawer is partiallywithdrawn, the pressure against the guard bar will cause the switch tobreak the circuit to the driving motor and thereby prevent furtheroperation of the motor until the obstruction has been removed.

Further objects and features of my invention will best be understood andappreciated from a detailed description of a preferred embodiment of myinvention, selected for purposes of illustration, and shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of a preferred embodiment of theautomatic filing cabinet of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in front elevation showing a number of the workingelements in dotted lines;

Fig. 3 is a plan view along the lines 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a plan view along the lines 44 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is an exposed view in front elevation of the control mechanism;

Fig. 6 is an exposed view in side elevation along the lines 6-6 of Fig.5;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view in side elevation showing the internalarrangement of the control mechanism;

Fig. 8 is a wiring diagram of the motor and control mechanism; and vFig. 9 is a further modification of a wiring diagram of the motor andcontrol mechanism.

A preferred embodiment of my invention herein shown includes in itsgeneral organizationa rigid, rectangular, upright cabinet 10; carriers12 mounted inside the cabinet for vertical movement and supportingdrawers 14; a motor, reduction gear, and chain drive system located inthe top of the cabinet; a control unit indicated at 16 on the front ofthe cabinet; and openings in the front of the cabinet indicated at 18together with guard bars 20 along the upper and lower edges of the saidopenings 18.

The carriers 12 are shown in plan view in Fig. 4 and consist essentiallyin rectangular metal frames having side panels 22 supported byvertically extending channel bars 24. The drawers 14 are supportedwithin the carriers 12 by conventional sliding elements (not shown), itbeing understood, of course, that numerous forms of drawer supportingmechanisms are suitable. The carriers 12 are held in vertical alignmentby means of a plurality of vertically disposed blocks 26 mountedcentrally on each of the side panels 22 and fitting into verticallydisposed channel tracks 28 mounted on each side of each carrier 12within the cabinet 10. The two tracks 28 in the center of the cabinet 10between the carriers 12 are supported by a center post 30 which runsvertically upward through the vertical axis of the cabinet. The carriers12 are suspended within the cabinet 10 by means of a pair of chains 32attached to carriers 12 at points 34 (see Fig. 4).

Turning now to Fig. 2 it Will be seen that the carriers 12 are arrangedin counterbalanced relationship being suspended by the chains 32 andthat when the left-hand carrier 12 is in the fully raised position, theright-hand carrier 12 will be in the fully depressed position with thebottom drawer of the left-hand carrier 12 being in position to bewithdrawn through the opening 18 and with the top drawer of theright-hand carrier 12 being likewise so positioned.

The mechanism employed for raising and lowering the carriers 12 is shownmore in detail in Fig. 3 and is located in an enclosed area in the topof the cabinet 10.

It consists in a single phase-split phase motor 36 operat- Figs. 5, 6and 7,

mounted for rotation in suitable bearings mounted on .the frame of thecabinet 10. Near each end, the shaft '42 carries a pair of sprockets 44for driving the carrier supporting chains 32.

With reference to Fig. 2 it will be seen that the chains 32 passunderneath the sprockets 44. To each side of the sprockets 44, I providea pair of idler sprockets 46 mounted upon vertically adjustable supports48. In Fig. 2, however, I have only shown one such port 48 and likewisein Fig. 3 I have only shown two, but it will be understood that thesesupports are duplicated on both sides of the drive sprockets 44. Thepurpose of idler sprockets 46 and their adjustable supports 48 is tohold the chains 32 in operative position on the sprockets 44 and toprovide means for adjustment so that the drawers may be accuratelypositioned in the initial set up and so that other random misalignmentsmay be corrected.

The reduction gear 38 is preferably of the worm gear, self-locking typeso that when the carriers are inproper position with two drawers inregistration with the openings 13, any random disparity between theweights of the drawers in the two carriers will not cause a shift intheir position. v

The drive chain 40 is held in firm bearing engagement with itsassociated sprockets by means of an adjustable idler sprocket 50 mountedon an arm 51.

Turning now to a detailed description of the control unit indicatedgenerally at 16 and shown in detail in it includes in its generalorganization an operating knob or handle 52 mounted on a shaft 54 whichis supported for rotation within a control box 56. A slip ring contactmember 57 having three contact rings 58 is mounted on the shaft 54 andturns with the knob 52. Brushes 59 bear against the rings 58 and areemployed in forming control circuits to be described below. Also mountedfor rotation on the shaft 54 is a double contact switch 60 shownvertically in Figs. 6 and 7, and shown at an angle in Fig. 5. The switch60 carries two switch operating arms 62 each provided with a roller 64at the arm extremity for frictionless bearing engagement against a camplate 66. The cam plate 66 is provided with a raised portion or shoulder65 and when one of the rollers 64 moves onto the shoulder 65, itdepresses the arm 62 and causes a contact 63 adjacent to the arm 62 tobe closed. A plate 68 is likewise mounted on the shaft 54 and isprovided with seven indentations 69 along its outer peripheral edge. Aball 70 mounted in a cylindrical recess 71 in the lower portion of thecontrol box 56 is urged upwardly against the edge of the plate 68 by acompression spring 72, and by lodging in the peripheral indentations 69of the plate 68, serves the purpose of centering the knob 52 in one ofseven different positions.

When the knob 52 is turned from one position to a new position, theshaft 54 carries the switch 60 around to the new position and in doingso, causes one of the rollers 64 to ride up on one of two shoulders 65of the cam plate 66. When this happens the contact 63 on one side of theswitch 60 is closed. With reference to the wiring diagram of Fig. 8 itwill be seen that, when one of the sides of the switch 60 is closed, acircuit will be established from the source of power T1, through eithera relay 74 or a relay 76, through one side of the switch 60, and out tothe power return T2. Depending upon which side of the switch 60 isclosed, relay 74 or relay 76 will be energized and will in turn operatedouble throw switches 7 8 or 80 respectively. Thus, the switches 78 and80 are never closed simultaneously because the switch 60 never operatesto energize relays 74 and 76 simultaneously. Therefore the operation ofonly one of the switches 78 or 80 need be described. When the switch 78is closed by operation of the relay 74, a circuit is establisheddirectly through one phase of the motor 36 and the said motor will thencommence to operate adjustable sup- 7 I chanical features.

. position and the downwardly so that in in the direction called for bythat phase. While the motor 36 is in operation, it operates throughchains 40 and 32 to drive the carriers 12 toward the new operativeposition. Also at this time, the motor 36 serves to move the cam plate66 of the control system to a new position by means of a sprocket 82mounted on the end of the shaft 42 and a chain 84- which is driven bythe sprocket 82. The chain 34 drives another sprocket 86 located in thecontrol unit which, through gears 88 and 90, turns a shaft 92 upon whichthe cam plate 66 is mounted. The gear ratio of gears 88 and is designedto rotate the cam plate 66 approximately 120 when the carriers 12 movefrom one extreme position to the other. This is designed in relation tothe spacing of the indentations 69 on the plate 68, there being sevenindentations 69 spaced apart approximately 20.

When the carriers 12 have arrived at a new position, the cam plate 66will also have been turned to its new roller-64 which previously was onthe shoulder 65 of the cam 66 will have receded therefrom breaking thecircuit through the switch 60. This in turn de-energizes the relay 74(or 76 as the case may be) and breaks the power circuit to the motor 36.

A conventional running condenser 94 and a braking condenser 96 areemployed across the fields of the motor 36. During operation a charge ispermitted to build up on the condenser 96 by means of a rectifier 93 inseries with the said condenser, and thus whenever the power circuit isbroken by returning the switch 78 (or the switch 30) to its normallyopen position, the condenser 96 unloads through the field of the motor36 freezing its armature. In this way, the condenser 96 causes the motor36 to stop extremely rapidly and prevents the mechanism from oscillatingor hunting.

In order to prevent damage to the'drawers or injury to personnelresulting from inadvertent operation of the control system at a timewhen one of the drawers is drawn out or when an operators hand ispositioned in opening 18, I. provide guard bars 20 along the upper andlower edges of the openings 18. The guard bars 20 are mounted to recedeunder pressure and to operate limit switches 100 in the control circuit.The limit switches 100 may be of conventional construction. In thisembodiment, I employ the type in which a ball 102 is caused to recede byoperation of a sliding rod 104 which has a narrowed cross sectionadjacent to the ball 102 in the normally closed position. The limitswitches 100 are mounted in the upper part of the cabinet 10 (see Fig. 2and Fig. 3). Only one switch 100 has been shown in Fig. 2 in order toavoid obscuring other me- Rods 104 extend downward from the limitswitches 100 inside the cabinet 10, and in the case of the two upperguard bars 20, rods 104 connect to vertical plates 166 on which theupper guard bars 20 are mounted. The plates 106 are provided withvertical slots 108 into which pins 110 (secured to the cabinet 10) fitto serve the purpose of holding the plates 106 for vertical slidingmovement. Springs 112 urge the plates 106 the normal position, the pins110 are at the upper limit of the slots 10%. Also in the normalposition, the rods 104 are positioned so that the limit switches 100 areclosed. Upward pressure on the upper guard bars 20 results in elevatingthe plates 106 against the pressure of springs 112. This causes the rods104 to elevate and opens the limit switches 100. By reference to Fig. 8,it will be seen that opening the .switches 106) breaks, one of thecircuits through the Springs urge plates operating rods 104 associatedwith the lower guard bars 20 do not connect directly to plates 114, butinstead they connect pivotally to lever arms 122, and the lever arms 122in turn connect to operating rods 124 which are secured to the plates114. Thus a downward pressure on the lower guard bars 20 depressesplates 114 thereby depressing both the operating rods 124 and the leverarms 122 which in turn carry the rods 104 downward and cause theassociated limit switches 100 to open.

A variation in the control system is shown in Fig. 9 and may be broadlydescribed as a servo system controlled by a bridge circuit. One side ofthe bridge includes a pair of variable resistors 130 controlled by theoperating knob 52 to assume one of seven different positions. The otherside of the bridge circuit comprises a slide wire resistor 132 which isbrought into balance with the variable resistors 130 by means of amechanical coupling to the carrier driving mechanism in a manner similarto the follow-up operation of the cam plate 66. When the knob 52 isturned to a new position, thereby changing the values of the resistors130, the bridge circuit becomes unbalanced and a voltage appears atterminal 133. The phase of the said voltage at 133 will, of course,depend upon the direction of unbalance of the bridge circuit. The saidvoltage at 133, regardless of its phase, is amplified at 134 and isemployed to operate the carrier drive mechanism to reposition thecarriers 12 and concurrently to bring the slide wire resistor 132 to anew position of balance as will be further described below.

A conventional single phase induction motor 138 may be employed in whichthe stator winding is supplied directly from the alternating currentsource of power and the rotor winding is connected to the center tap ofa transformer 140 having its primary winding also connected to the saidsource of power. The direction of rotation of the motor 138 depends uponthe phase of the applied voltage during which current flows in the rotorwinding and reversal of the direction of rotation may be accomplished byshifting the said phase approximately 180. This is done by connectingthe output of the ampliher 134 through a transformer 136, to the gridsof two triodes 142 and 144 connected to the rotor winding, one at eachend of the secondary winding of the transformer 140. The phase of thevoltage in the rotor winding depends upon which of the triodes 142 and144 is conducting, and this depends upon the phase of the voltage in thesecondary winding of the transformer 136 which in turn depends upon thephase of the voltage at terminal 133. Thus the motor 138 rotates in thedirection called for by the condition of unbalance of the bridgecircuit.

Further minor variations of my invention will now be apparent to thoseskilled in the art, and therefore, it is not my intention to confine theinvention to the precise form herein shown, but rather to limit it interms of the appended claims.

Having thus described and disclosed a preferred embodiment of myinvention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentis:

1. A filing cabinet comprising, a housing, a series of filing drawersdisposed one over the other within said housing, a carrier for saiddrawers, said carrier being mounted for vertical motion within saidhousing, elevator means mounted within said housing for raising andlowering said carrier, and control means for said elevator meansincluding a double contact switch, a relay in series with each contactof said switch, means actuated by one said relay for operating saidelevator means in a direction to elevate said carrier, means actuated bythe other said relay for operating said elevator means in a direction tolower said carrier, a cam plate operatively assowhen a new position ofsaid carrier is desired, a mechanical coupling between said cam plateand said elevator means adapted to reposition said cam plate relative tosaid switch such that said switch is opened when said carrier arrives atsaid new position, walls forming an opening in front of said housing,safety mechanism associated with said opening including movable guardbars, and means operatively associated with said guard bars forinterrupting the operation of said elevator means when pressure isapplied to one of said guard bars.

2. A filing cabinet comprising a housing, a pair of openings locatedside-by-side at the front of said housing, a pair of carriers eachcontaining a plurality of drawers mounted for movement within saidhousing in line with said openings, a drive motor for moving saidcarriers, and means for controlling said drive motor to selectivelyposition said drawers in registration with said openings, said controlmeans comprising a cam having a lobe of a given length, a composite camfollower and switch arm adapted to ride upon said cam lobe to close acircuit for driving said motor in a given direction and to break saidcircuit when removed from said lobe, a second composite cam follower andswitch arm adapted to ride upon said cam lobe only when said first-namedcam follower is removed therefrom to close a circuit for driving saidmotor in an opposite direction, means for simultaneously manuallypositioning said cam followers relative to said cam lobe through aplurality of steps, reduction drive means connecting said motor and saidcarriers, reduction drive means from said motor providing relativemovement of said cam followers and cam simultaneously with movement ofsaid carriers to provide removal of said cam lobe from a given camfollower substantially when a given drawer is in registration with agiven opening of said cabinet, the relative positioning movement of saidcam lobe and cam followers having a given relation to the movement ofsaid carriers whereby to provide the controlled registration of a givendrawer of said carriers with one of said openings.

3. A filing cabinet comprising, a housing, a series of filing drawersdisposed one over the other within said housing, a carrier for saiddrawers, said carrier being mounted for vertical motion within saidhousing, elevator means mounted within said housing for raising andlowering said carrier, and control means for said elevator meansincluding a control switch, a pair of relays in series with said switch,means actuated by one said relay for operating said elevator means in adirection to elevate said carrier, means actuated by the other saidrelay for operating said elevator means in a direction to lower saidcarrier, means operatively associated with said control switch forselectively energizing one said relay when a new position of saidcarrier is desired requiring said carrier to be raised and the othersaid relay when a new position requiring said carrier to be lowered isdesired, and a mechanical coupling between said elevator means and saidcontrol switch for de-energizing either said relay when said newposition of said carrier is reached.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,125,619 Parent Aug. 2, 1938 2,621,995 Zenner et al Dec. 16, 19522,658,513 Clough Nov. 10, 1953 OTHER REFERENCES The Remington-RandConve-Filer Pamphlet, March 1952, pages 7, 8.

